Walter Toy British and American Citizen Walter Toy was born January 2, 1863 in Budock, Cornwall, England. He was born to Walter Toy and Sally Cosier. Walter was their fifth child and third son. The fourth child was Charles who was born June 7, 1858. Both Charles and Walter joined the Royal Navy. Charles served from 1875 to 1886 and then switched to the Coastguard and served on until 1913 although he went to pension in 1904. Walter served from 1878 to 1886 then two years with the Merchant Marines until October of 1888. Growing up in Budock it would seem natural to take a sea-oriented career. This parish is bounded on the east by Falmouth Bay and the English Channel. Budock, named after Saint Budocus, is a parish in the hundred of Kerrier, but including part of the town of Falmouth. Budock comprises 3,589 acres of land 13 acres of tidal water and 67 acres of foreshore Falmouth has it own separate jurisdiction with the center of each being about two miles apart. They are all in the county of Cornwall. The words here are a little misleading. Brothers Charlie and Walter Toy According to the World Foreign Gazetteer, Cornwall is a primary administration division such as a state in the United States. A hundred is an old English Saxon land division. It is smaller than a county or shire and larger than a tithing. It comprised ten tithings of ten freeholder families each or one hundred families. Falmouth is also a parish in the hundred of Kerrier, County of Cornwall. In the parish the principal town is the seaport and market town of Falmouth. The name is from its placement at the mouth of the river Fal. Falmouth as a town can be dated to at least 1600. The bay however was well known long before that as a save haven. It was considered the most secure and spacious. The first record with the name Falmouth would be the incorporation charter from 1661. It became a separate parish from Budock in 1664. Falmouth became one of the principal ports in the West of England. It had for many years carried on extensive foreign trade. A market-house was built in 1813. Markets were held on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, for butchers' meat, fish, and other provisions and there were two fairs, on August 7th and October 10th, for cattle. Walter and Charles’ father, also named Walter worked in agricultural endeavors. The 1871 Census for Cornwall lists his trade. There was some employment in services, shipbuilding and rope-making in Falmouth as well. The town was known for importing and exporting. Imports came from America, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Russia and the 1 north of Europe, from the Mediterranean, from France and from Ireland. It had formerly exported fish to West Indies and Italy but chiefly the exports were products from the tin and copper mines and from manufacturing. A quantity of mining apparatus and hardware had been exported to the Brazilian and Mexican mines. Other exports were wine, brandy and other liquors as well as fruit and cider to Jersey. Entry into the British Navy had age limits of twelve to fourteen years old. This had been in effect since 1849. There was a short period at the end of the 19th century when an age limit of fourteen to fifteen was in force. Walter began his engagement September 21, 1878 at the age of 15. His personal description when he joined was 5 foot 5 inches and 2 tenths. Hair was brown and eyes were blue gray. His complexion was fresh and he had no wounds, scars or marks. On his first ship, H.M.S. Ganges he was rated as a Boy 2nd Class. December 31, 1878 his character was rated as “Very Good”. By December 14, 1879 he was promoted to Boy, 1st Class. Walter received a character comment of “Excellent” on March 31, 1880. He trained on the Ganges until May 29, 1880. The H.M.S. Ganges was a three-masted ship of 2,284 tons, with 3,594 tons displacement. She was built of teak, 196 feet in length on the gun-deck and pierced for 84 guns. H.M.S. Ganges was one of six ships built of teak for the Crown by the East India Company early in the 19th century. Building of the Ganges commenced in May 1819 and she was launched into the waters of the Indian Ocean from the Dockyard at Bombay on the November 9, 1821. She arrived in Portsmouth in 1822 to complete her fitting- out and was finally commissioned on May 31, 1823. Captain Edward Brace took her out to the Jamaica Station for the first 18 months. She had several commissions out in the Mediterranean and then became the last sailing battleship to round Cape Horn without the aid of steam on October 17, 1857. She was also the last sailing ship to become a Flagship, being that for the Commander in Chief, Pacific. During this commission she sailed the length of the west coasts of South and North America. She spent time surveying in the vicinity of Vancouver, British Columbia where many of the headlands and other geographical features were given the names of some of the ship's officers. 2 In 1852 improved conditions and pay allowed for continuous service to be offered to men in the Royal Navy as well as a pension after a fixed number of years. With the need to maintain the numbers of seamen it was decided to set aside five of the laid up wooden ships, convert them for training purposes and position them in various harbors around the country. Boys between 15 and 17 years were then asked to volunteer for a career in the Royal Navy, spending at least a year onboard one of these training ships prior to joining the Fleet. They were expected to be fit and to be able to read and write, so very few were accepted that were 'volunteered' by magistrates 'to make a man of you'. Three thousand, five hundred boys were required each year nationwide. On March 20, 1866 the H.M.S. Ganges, now converted to accommodate 500 boys, arrived at Mylor to commence her new role and enter into the history of the Royal Navy. The ship was moored in St. Just Pool, a short distance off a small Naval Dockyard, about two miles above Falmouth. It was here, a tradition that was to last for 110 years of training young boys for a service career in the Royal Navy, first started. The boys were to be trained in seamanship and gunnery, which in those days meant sail, mast and yard drill as well as the usual knots and splices and boat handling. Gunnery included handling muzzle-loaded guns, field guns, rifle drill and hand-to-hand weapons such as the cutlass and boarding spikes. Schooling was not forgotten either and some sea going experience was included when the boys were embarked in sailing brigs for a short period. 3 Little is known about the life of the boys aboard the ship during her 33 year stay at Mylor, only one account of a boy joining H.M.S. Ganges is available to us today written by H. J. Austin who joined the ship in 1898. He wrote of a harsh regime, poor food and severe punishment for all the time he spent on board, yet he finished his service as a Yeoman of Signals. The routine he described has a familiar ring to it, called at 0600, lash up and stow your hammock, a mug of ki without milk or sugar and wash in cold water on the upper deck. Scrub decks until 0800 then a breakfast of tea with a little sugar and a slice of dry bread. On two mornings of the week a piece of well-boiled fat pork would be issued that could be spread on the bread. At 0830 it would be 'Clear up Decks' and at 0845 muster on the quarterdeck for Divisions and Prayers. Instructions followed, with a 'stand easy' at 1030 and a half slice of bread, until dinner at 1200. The boys had to prepare their own food but being little more than meat and potatoes this would not have been much of a chore, apart from being carried out under the eye and guidance of a badge boy. After dinner back to instructions until 1600 and tea, followed by evening quarters at 1700 being dismissed about 1800. Their evenings were then their own. The weekly routine included sail drill every Monday morning, kit or hammock inspection on Thursday morning followed by a 'make and mend', Saturday 'clean ship', watch on deck doing the holy-stoning, watch below cleaning the mess decks all ready for Rounds. Austin wrote nothing about Sunday's apart from not having to scrub decks, but no doubt there were Divisions in their best uniforms and a Church Service. The boys bathed when it was their part of ship's turn, wooden tubs filled with cold water on deck at 0630, winter and summer with only a small canvas wind screen for protection and a small coarse towel to dry with. The boys were paid the princely sum of sixpence once a week, unless of course they had money stopped for losing something of their eating utensils. A bumboat came alongside every Thursday afternoon, weather permitting, selling packets of sweets or pieces of bread pudding at a penny a time to the ever-hungry boys.